PUTNEY — Industrial wind turbines and solar panels are generating electricity in Vermont.
Wind and sunlight are renewable energy.
But they don't count toward Vermont's goal of 90 percent renewable energy by 2050.
Industrial wind- and solar-power developers here receive Renewable Energy Credits that they sell in Southern New England to fulfill those states' “renewable-energy” goals.
Developers build industrial wind turbines and solar panels on Vermont ridgelines, hillsides and fields so that Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island can tint themselves “green” while avoiding environmental impacts on their landscapes and neighborhoods.
Developers also will build even more industrial wind turbines and solar panels on even more Vermont ridgelines, hillsides and fields so that Vermonters can fulfill our own renewable-energy goals while accepting even more environmental impacts on our landscapes and neighborhoods.
How is this renewable-energy sham fair to Vermonters?